The ability to accurately determine the location of a person or item within a building is a desirable objective. RFID technology has conventionally been used in the identification and tracking of products, equipment, and even people. For example, RFID systems are commonly used in Electronic Article Surveillance (“EAS”) and in logistical and inventory systems for monitoring goods and equipment and recording information on the target item. An RFID system typically includes an RFID reader and an RFID device such as a tag or label. The RFID reader may transmit a Radio-Frequency (“RF”) carrier signal to the RFID device. The RFID device may respond to the RF carrier signal (or interrogator signal) with a data response signal (or authentication reply signal) encoded with information stored on the RFID device. RFID devices may store information such as a unique identifier or an Electronic Product Code (“EPC”) associated with an article or item.
The RFID technology allows retailers to rapidly and/or continuously identify products, count products and track product locations. As such, the RFID technology offers significant benefits over a physical inventory counting process. By leveraging the RFID technology to increase inventory accuracy, retailers are better able to perform replenishment, service customer requests, manage product recalls or any other activities that rely on inventory data. With this level of inventory visibility, retailers must also take on the additional burden of being able to locate specific products easily and quickly so that they can service the above-listed use cases. Products on the market today to aid in determining a product's location are either too expensive or not accurate enough to serve this need.
Indoor proximity systems are well known in the art. One conventional indoor proximity system is known as iBeacon®. iBeacon® employs Bluetooth communication technology to connect to mobile communication devices (e.g., cellular phones). Upon establishment of such connection, the iBeacon® requests and receives first information from each Mobile Communication Device (“MCD”). The first information includes information which has been agreed upon by the cell user for provision to the iBeacon®. The iBeacon® can also push second information to the MCD. The Bluetooth communication technology is based on a 2.45 GHz transmission, and its data rate ranges from 1 Mbit to 24 Mbit.